This Saturday, January 8, marks what would’ve been David Bowie‘s 75th birthday, and to mark the milestone, several special releases and events are planned in the coming days.
Most of the events will take place at one or both of the Bowie 75 commemorative pop-up stores that opened in New York City and London this past October.
On Thursday, January 6, the two shops will host the premiere of a new Sony 360 Reality Audio mix of David’s final studio album, 2016’s ★ — aka Blackstar — which was supervised by frequent Bowie studio collaborator Tony Visconti.
Also on January 6, a special livestream event beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Bowie’s YouTube channel will feature songs from David’s A Reality Tour presented in 360 Reality Audio.
Friday, January 7, will see the previously announced release of the TOY (TOY:BOX) box set focusing on Bowie’s previously unreleased 2000 TOY album. An exclusive, limited-edition cassette version of TOY will be sold at the New York and London Bowie 75 stores, as will vinyl and CD editions of the box set.
On January 8, David’s birthday, the New York Bowie 75 store will feature a special Q&A with one-time Bowie band member and TOY producer Mark Plati at 5 p.m. ET.
On Sunday, January 9, the New York and London shops will host screenings of the Selections from A Reality Tour concert film in HD with a SONY 360 Reality Audio soundtrack.
Then, on Friday, January 14, at the New York Bowie 75 store, sax player Donny McCaslin, who collaborated with David on Blackstar, will take part in an interview event that begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Visit Bowie75.com for more details about the events and releases.
(WASHINGTON) — With Sudan’s fragile transition to democracy derailed, the United States and Europe have issued a stark warning to the Sudanese military against appointing a new government “without the involvement of a broad range of civilian stakeholders.”
“Unilateral action to appoint a new Prime Minister and Cabinet would undermine those institutions’ credibility and risks plunging the nation into conflict,” Norway, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and the European Union said in a joint statement Tuesday. “In the absence of progress, we would look to accelerate efforts to hold those actors impeding the democratic process accountable.”
Sudan has been seen as a powerful example of democratic hope after a 2019 revolution forced the military’s overthrow of the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an alleged war criminal and former military officer who seized power of the North African nation in 1989. The popular uprising was marked by iconic images of protesters, especially women, going viral on social media and garnering support from celebrities around the world. After al-Bashir was ousted, Sudanese military and civilian leaders came together to form a transitional government and agreed on a 39-month process to return to democratic, civilian rule.
That progress came to a grinding halt on Oct. 25, 2021, when the military took power, dissolved the transitional government and expelled the civilian members. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was appointed by the transitional government in 2019, was placed under house arrest along with a number of other senior politicians. Mass protests as well as pressure from the international community, including the U.S. government withholding $700 million in economic aid, ushered in a deal that reinstated Hamdok as prime minister on Nov. 21, 2021.
But Hamdok resigned on Sunday, after the military refused to loosen its grip on power.
“I tried as much as I could to avoid our country slipping into a catastrophe, and now our country is going through a dangerous turning point that may threaten its entire survival if it is not remedied soon,” Hamdok said in a televised national address. “The major crisis today in the homeland is primarily a political crisis, but it is gradually changing to include all aspects of economic and social life and is on its way to becoming a comprehensive crisis.”
“The key word towards a solution to this dilemma that has persisted for more than six decades in the history of the country is to rely on dialogue at a round table in which all groups of Sudanese society and the state are represented to agree on a national charter and to draw a roadmap to complete the civil democratic transformation,” he added.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities across the country to denounce the military takeover and demand civilian rule. Sudanese security forces have used violent means to disperse protesters, killing at least 57 of them and injuring hundreds of others since October, according to the Sudan Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed grave concern about reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment against women and girls by Sudanese security forces during protests in December.
The U.S. government has repeatedly called for accountability in the wake of the reported atrocities but has yet to penalize the Sudanese military. When asked why the Sudanese military hasn’t been sanctioned, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday: “We don’t preview sanctions designations, but we are exploring all available options to support Sudan’s transition.”
However, some analysts argued that now is the time for action, not more warnings and threats.
Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, a think-tank in Washington, D.C., said the U.S. government “must move beyond tired bromides claiming to ‘stand with the people of Sudan’ and unabashedly throw its weight behind the country’s pro-democracy movement in tangible and meaningful ways that will begin to swing the balance of power more in the protesters’ favor.”
“Sudan’s formal transition to democracy is over, even though its revolution lives on in the hearts of millions of peaceful pro-democracy protesters,” Hudson wrote Monday in a post for the Atlantic Council’s blog. “Washington and its international partners have now lost the final pretense of what allowed them — for too long — to frame their engagement in terms of supporting a ‘civilian-led transitional government.'”
“With no political agreement or civilian leader left to undermine, Washington and its allies should now pursue a more hardline approach toward the military that holds it accountable for the October coup and the deadly response to peaceful protests since then,” he added before noting “that should mean sanctions.”
It remains unclear whether freezing the assets of Sudanese military leaders would have any impact, especially since allies like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates continue to back them and Sudan previously found a way to manage under nearly 20 years of U.S. sanctions.
Some analysts argued that regional allies have little to gain from an unstable Sudan. Camille Lons, a Bahrain-based research associate for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank in London, said the “spill-over effects — such as economic repercussions, refugee flows, terrorism threats and arms smuggling — are perceived as highly problematic.”
“Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as Egypt, continue to favour the military in Sudan. But that does not mean that they view the coup positively,” Lons wrote in an analysis posted on Nov. 16. “Several Gulf and Egyptian diplomats and officials have privately expressed their surprise and concern over what they see as a reckless move.”
“But as the US shows growing signs of disengagement in the region,” she added, “Arab Gulf countries will increasingly have to take care of their own regional security and stability, albeit with more pragmatism.”
In the absence of assertive pressure from the international community, the situation in Sudan is becoming dark and uncertain. In the war-torn Darfur region, where a genocide sparked global outrage, escalating violence has displaced thousands of people since November. There have also been “alarming reports” of villages being destroyed, sexual violence and livestock rustling, according to the United Nations.
Moreover, Sudan under al-Bashir had concerning ties to terrorism that include giving safe haven to al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and being implicated in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, for which al-Qaida claimed responsibility. But Hudson said the Sudanese military “appears intent” to keep the country off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. After being added in 1993 over its links to al-Qaida, Sudan was officially removed from the list in 2020.
“The military, for all its faults and abuses, has been a reasonably reliable ally in the fight against terrorism and has its own reasons to be concerned by jihadists taking up residence in Sudan,” Hudson told ABC News on Wednesday.
But diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and others to pressure Sudanese military leadership may be complicated by the departure of a senior U.S. diplomat.
Reuters, citing sources, reported Wednesday that the U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, is leaving his post at the end of the month amid the growing chaos in Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia, and that he will be replaced by David Satterfield, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Turkey. The U.S. Department of State declined ABC News’ request for comment.
Hudson told ABC News that Feltman’s departure would not be “particularly surprising, as he was only there as a stopgap to help the administration respond early on to the unfolding crises in Ethiopia and Sudan.”
“Most critical now is that the U.S. maintain a strong and consistent level of diplomatic engagement in the region at this critical moment,” he added, noting that an announcement of a replacement for Feltman would suggest that “this will be the case and should be welcomed.”
(WASHINGTON) — It was hardly the first week any of us imagined: A violent mob storming the United States Capitol, chanting for the vice president to be hanged, leaving behind a trail of shattered glass, blood and debris. The first 100 hours on the job were filled with chaos, confusion and a new set of challenges.
For most freshman lawmakers, the Jan. 6 attack meant running for safety in a building they hardly knew. For me, as ABC’s incoming congressional correspondent, it meant covering a historic and deadly insurrection as one of my first assignments on the beat.
Third day on the job: ‘Oh, is this your first coup?’
Just three days after being sworn into office, the freshman class of lawmakers found themselves hiding for cover. “It was a day of terror,” Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman said. “I remember feeling numb and in shock.”
Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones was down on the House floor as the mob of Trump supporters closed in on the chamber. Members were instructed to grab escape hoods — emergency gas masks — and swiftly move to a secure location.
“Oh, is this your first coup?” Jones recalled another member mentioning to him in jest once they reached a secure location.
The U.S. Capitol is well over 1.5 million square feet with 600 rooms, underground tunnels and corridors that stretch miles. It’s hardly a building you can learn your way around in a few days — let alone during an insurrection. “You don’t have a sense of direction because you’re only three days on the job,” Bowman said. “I definitely didn’t know where the cafeteria was or the most efficient way to get into the Capitol.”
For Bowman, the chaos that unfolded that day would define the weeks and months that followed; and when I asked if he still feels the weight of Jan. 6 one year later, his answer was definitive. “As you were asking the question, I felt the tension in my neck and shoulders,” he said. “Yes, every single day I feel it. Every day I walk out of my house, I feel it.”
The unwatchable video: ‘It brought me to my knees’
If there was a “honeymoon phase” for the freshman class, it didn’t last long. Their first three Wednesdays in office would be unlike any others in American history: an insurrection, an inauguration and an impeachment. The Capitol became a fortress with miles-long fencing wrapped around the complex, military vehicles guarding the streets and an armed National Guard standing at the ready.
For weeks, many lawmakers had no idea how close they had come to the violent mob — but that all changed during the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The never-before-seen video of the attack was raw and graphic. It sent shockwaves throughout the Capitol.
For Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, much of it was unwatchable. “I couldn’t get through the video that the Democrats put together for impeachment, I got through about half of it. I could not watch it. It made me physically ill, it made me sick to my stomach, it brought me to my knees,” Mace told me, weeks after the insurrection.
During our interview, I nodded silently. The images were searing and still keeping me up at night. I remembered the moment things took an even more dramatic turn during the insurrection, when there were reports of gunfire inside the Capitol. Before we knew it, paramedics raced past our team, rushing a woman out on a gurney. Blood covered her face and gushed down her body. Her eyes were barely open, and as they carried her away, she stared back at the building she breached.
Almost every day, I enter through the building’s doors, perhaps one of the things I’ve struggled with most is not having any memories of the Capitol prior to Jan. 6. Most things I pass every day — windows, entrances, plazas, cafeterias — trigger memories from that day.
Over the course of several hours, we watched as medics scrambled to triage bruised and bloody officers. In the months to come, I would personally come to learn the names, faces and stories behind those images.
More than 130 days after the Capitol siege, the National Guard ended their mission. Their presence became unusually “normal,” and now, at times, I still find myself looking around for them.
One year removed: The day that changed Congress
One year after the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Capitol is still reeling from the violence. The attack only deepened fraught political divides, eroding trust between members who were caught in the crosshairs.
Freshman Republican Rep. Troy Nehls came face to face with rioters pounding on the door of the House chamber. “The door started shaking violently. And then the glass shattered. I saw a young man and he was looking at me and I was looking at him and he said, ‘You’re from Texas, you should be with us.’ And I told him this was ‘un-American, what you’re doing,” Nehls told ABC News.
Hours later, when the lawmakers returned to the chamber to certify the election results for President Joe Biden, Nehls was one of 147 Republicans who voted against it.
Tensions between parties have worsened. Shouting matches have erupted in the hall and deeply personal attacks have prompted members to relocate offices. Some Democrats have drawn a line — outright refusing to work with Republicans who voted against certifying the election. The House took rare action and issued a formal rebuke of a Republican who posted an animated video depicting him killing a fellow member of Congress and attacking the president.
Threats against lawmakers have peaked to record levels: 9,600 reported in 2021, according to Capitol Police. The number has more than doubled in the last four years. A year later, the lawmakers who stood shoulder to shoulder through the violence and chaos still can’t agree on how to define the events that occurred.
(WASHINGTON) — Just days before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack at the United States Capitol, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said domestic violent extremism remains one of “the greatest terrorism related threats” the country faces.
“Over the past year, we in the Department of Homeland Security have improved and strengthened our approach to combating this dynamic, evolving threat,” Mayorkas told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. He detailed some of the steps the department has taken, such as convening conference calls to discuss emerging threats and sharing intelligence bulletins of which he said DHS has sent more than 80 on domestic violent extremists alone.
At the same time, he said there are no credible threats ahead of the Jan. 6 anniversary.
Those who attacked the Capitol last year included groups that align with the department’s definition of domestic violent extremism.
Mayorkas said DHS is “very focused” on the “lone-wolf actor,” something proving hard to stop, or a “loose affiliation” of people to one group.
“We are operating at a heightened level of vigilance because we are at a heightened level of threat,” the secretary said. “The threat of domestic violent extremists is a very grave one.”
On Jan. 6, ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of events marking one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continuing fallout for American democracy.
“This was an assault that requires attention,” Mayorkas said, adding it has gotten the proper response which is to investigate what occurred. He said encrypted messaging apps make things more challenging to investigate, and stressed it is all being done with civil liberties in mind.
He said there are wha he called two “predicates” that define domestic violent extremists.
“One of the predicates is ideologies of hate. And the second predicate is false narratives,” he said. “And that is where misinformation comes into play. What is important in defining domestic violent extremism” he said, is “standing by and adhering to our values of free speech is not the ideologies of hate.”
Mayorkas stressed that it isn’t the false narratives themselves “but rather their connectivity to violence that creates the threat to which we are obligated to respond. That is what is what domestic violent extremism is about is the connectivity between false narratives and ideologies of hate to violence.”
When asked by ABC News , Mayorkas couldn’t point out specific examples of cases in which they’ve disrupted domestic violent extremism activity or speech because some are ongoing criminal cases.
Mayorkas, though, did not mince words speaking to the American people about assurances he can provide regarding another Jan. 6-style attack.
“We in the Department of Homeland Security, along with our state, local tribal territorial partners, as well as our partners and courts across the federal government are dedicated 24 hours a day seven days a week to ensure that another January 6 does not occur.”
(WASHINGTON) — At least seven historically Black colleges and universities received bomb threats Tuesday afternoon and evening, according to school officials. The threats forced campuses to lockdown or evacuate and local law enforcement was alerted.
All of the schools have since sent out all-clear alerts to their students, staff and community.
NSU Police Dept. completed investigation of a bomb threat received Tuesday evening and issued an “All Clear.” Students have been secured in a hotel and dorms remain closed until 8 AM Wednesday. NSU Police and authorities secured campus. For emergencies, call NSU at 757-823-9000. pic.twitter.com/Przq4fOzA0
No bombs were found on the campuses of Florida Memorial University, North Carolina Central University, Prairie View A&M University, The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Florida Memorial University, Norfolk State University and Xavier University of Louisiana.
All clear. Howard’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) and MPD responded to a potential bomb threat on campus this afternoon. The perimeter was secured and searched. No active devices were found and the area has been cleared.
Students were transported to hotels but on-campus classes had not yet resumed for several of the schools following the holiday break. Several said they will continue to work with law enforcement to investigate the threats.
“Florida Memorial University takes matters of this nature seriously,” the university said in a statement to ABC News. “The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors is the university’s main priority. Campus security will continue to work with all involved agencies as the investigation remains ongoing.”
Cardi B understands the pandemic has been rough for everyone, and joked on Wednesday that maybe the stress of it has finally gotten to her. Taking to Instagram stories, the “Up” rapper explained why she thinks her four-month-old baby is already talking.
“I’m not exaggerating. This baby is talking. I put this on everything I love in the name of Jesus Christ,” she attested in a series of Instagram stories, recalling how she was fawning over her baby boy that morning and asking him if he loves his mommy.
“He replied back like, ‘Yeah!,'” Cardi claimed, saying her son spoke clearly and was not babbling. She also insisted her husband, Offset, also heard it.
The Grammy winner also said her son was speaking while watching the streaming children’s show Cocomelon the other day, where the characters were singing, “If you’re happy and you know it, say ‘Hello!'” — which is exactly what Cardi says her little one did.
“I don’t know if that’s, like, the pandemic thing. I don’t know if, like, if this is normal,” the 29-year-old entertainer said. “This s**t is crazy. I need a camera in this room 24/7 or something.”
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Major retailers have increased the price of at-home COVID-19 tests now that an agreement with the White House to sell them at a fixed price has expired.
In September, Walmart, Kroger and Amazon agreed to sell the two-pack boxes of at-home rapid antigen tests for $14 for three months amid a surge in positive cases with the delta and omicron variants. The agreement has since expired, according to a White House official.
Walmart is now charging $19.88 per box, where available, and Kroger has raised the price to $23.99. The brand is currently unavailable on Amazon’s website.
Despite the price hike, the at-home tests remain sold out — both online and in stores across the country
When asked Wednesday whether the Biden administration is currently in talks with retailers to bring the price of the tests back down, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to say.
“I can’t give you an update on any conversations,” Psaki said.
Instead, she pointed to other steps the administration is taking to make tests more available, including purchasing 500 million tests to distribute to Americans for free and requiring insurance companies to reimburse Americans for the tests starting next week.
The government will begin to receive the tests later this month and will then distribute them free of charge, Psaki told reporters on Tuesday, adding that she does not “have an update” on how long it will take to send out all 500 million tests and whether the distribution will occur over a certain period of time.
ABC News’ Mike Hernandez and Elliot Rubin contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — “From the way I sleep, eating breakfast, making sure I don’t hurt myself putting my shirt on. The way I walk, the way I play with my son. The phone calls from the Justice Department, from the FBI, from the department, asking ‘do I recognize this individual?’… It hasn’t been easy,” Gonell told ABC “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir last month.
Watch more TONIGHT on “World News Tonight” at 6:30 p.m. ET
A Capitol Police officer and Iraq War veteran, he was on Capitol Hill that day when thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the halls of Congress, looking to overturn the presidential election.
“They were pulling me by my leg, by my shield, by my shoulder strap,” Gonell told Muir.
Gonell and his fellow officers were outnumbered. By the time the rioters left the building, he would be one of dozens officers injured in the first attack on the U.S. Capitol since 1814: Gonell was sprayed with chemicals and crushed by the crowds — his left shoulder and one of his feet later requiring surgery.
When he got home early morning Jan. 7, he was afraid the chemicals on his uniform and skin would injure his wife, as she tried to hug him.
“All she wanted to do was hug me because she had been watching TV since it started. And I knew that if I would hug her, then all those chemicals would transfer to her,” he told Muir.
On Jan. 6, ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of events marking one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continuing fallout for American democracy.
As the country marks one year since that insurrection, and with investigations into the planning and execution of that attack ongoing, Muir sat down with Sgt. Gonell, his fellow Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges — all of whom were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year.
It was the first time the three officers sat down for an interview since they, and former Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone, detailed the horror they endured on Jan. 6 during a congressional hearing six months after the attacks.
The wounds are still raw.
“I think it’s just as simple as I work in a crime scene,” Dunn told Muir. “Going to work at the Capitol every day, it’s a constant reminder of what happened…I return to the crime scene every single day. And what more memory do you get than just going to the scene of the crime every day?
Dunn testified to the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 that he was called racial slurs by the rioters as they stormed the Capitol.
“Is this America?,” Dunn recalled asking a fellow officer during the interview with Muir. “How could something like that happen at the U.S. Capitol, the pinnacle of democracy?”
ABC’s Rachel Scott, Ely Brown and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
In addition to prepping the release of his new album Dawn FM, The Weeknd is also apparently trying to unload some real estate.
The Dirt website reports that since he purchased a mega mansion in Los Angeles’ Bel Air neighborhood for $69 million last year, the singer born Abel Tesfaye no longer needs his penthouse condo in LA’s Westwood neighborhood. He’s put it on the market for a mere $22.5 million, up from the $21 million he paid for the residence a little more than two years ago.
According to The Dirt, the 8,000-square-foot penthouse takes up the entire 18th floor of a building and features four bedrooms and eight baths, floor-to-ceiling windows, a gym and a wine vault.
The building itself offers perks like a helipad, a saltwater pool and spa, and 24/7 security, all of which will cost you more than eight grand a month in homeowner’s association fees.
(NEW YORK) — As U.S. COVID-19 cases continue to surge, some health care facilities have been forced to shut down facilities or departments as staffing shortages worsen.
Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was forced to close labor and delivery units, while keeping open, at least for now, NICU and postpartum units.
“Holy Cross Health has reached critical staffing levels in Labor and Delivery,” the hospital said in a statement to ABC News. “In the best interest of patient safety, the Labor and Delivery unit is on diversion until further notice.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance last month for health care workers, reducing their isolation periods to align with “understanding of the disease trajectory,” which affected staffing measures.
Three Aurora Urgent Care facilities in Wisconsin were forced to close last week until at least Jan. 26.
“Managing the COVID surge combined with staffing shortages have contributed to temporary closures at three lower volume urgent care centers in Menomonee Falls, Brookfield and on River Center Drive in Milwaukee,” a representative for Advocate Aurora Health told ABC News in a statement. “This allows those team members to be deployed to busier urgent cares in the area. All other non-urgent care services offered at these three facilities are currently open.”
Pulaski Memorial Hospital in Indiana also told ABC News it’s closing its OB/Maternity department in mid-January due to staffing shortages.
“With so few maternity nurses available, our medical staff and senior leadership felt it best to close the OB/Maternity Department instead of trying to operate at less than optimal staffing levels,” hospital CEO Tom Barry said in a statement. “Over the past several months, we have had significant difficulty recruiting additional staff to our OB/Maternity Department in order to maintain the high-quality standards that all patients deserve and expect from PMH.”
